Names of 11 Catholic clergy members in grand jury report won't be made public, court says

Attorney General Josh Shapiro outlined the findings of the grand jury investigation into six catholic diocese in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, August 14, 2018. The grand jury's report detailed child sexual abuse and cover-up by more than 300 members of the clergy.(Photo: Ty Lohr, York Daily Record)Buy Photo

The Supreme Court said Monday releasing the information would have violated the clergymen's state constitutional right to have their reputation protected.

The clergy challenged being named in the document before its August release.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro says that although he can't release the names, the state's bishops should.

“Today’s Order allows predator priests to remain in the shadows and permits the Church to continue concealing their identities,” he said in a news release.

“I will continue to stand with all survivors, fighting to ensure every victim gets their day in court and that every predator priest and every bishop and church official who enabled child abuse is held accountable for their abhorrent conduct."

The clergy argued they hadn't been provided an adequate opportunity to respond to the grand jury about the allegations. They also said the report stigmatized people who hadn't been convicted of crimes, and contained inaccuracies.

The jury found more than 300 priests had abused children going back 70 years, and church officials covered up abuse.

The Rev. Richard Zula leaves court after a preliminary hearing before District Justice Frances Cornish of Confluence, Pa., on Dec. 21, 1988. In 1990, Zula received concurrent prison sentences for convictions in Washington and Somerset counties for sexually assaulting two boys. He died in 2017. Bill Levis/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

This January 1988 photo shows the Rev. Francis Pucci, a Roman Catholic Priest who was accused of sexual assault, but criminal charges were later dropped because the statute of limitations had passed. Pucci was forced by Bishop Donald Wuerl into early retirement and banned from parish ministry, allowed only to say Mass for nuns at the convent where he resided until his death in 2002. Bill Levis/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

The Rev. Robert Wolk, a Roman Catholic priest, is led from the courtroom by deputies after receiving a 5- to 10-year sentence from Judge George Ross for child molestation on April 3, 1990. Wolk voluntarily left the priesthood. Bill Levis/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP